Phanniemay 2019
by quishaweasley
Summary: Collection of fics from Phanniemay 2019.
1. Doorways

Doorways can be mysterious things, mystical. Intriguing. Sometimes they open into a ghosts lair, sometimes they open into the Salem Witch trials. Sometimes it's just your closet.

Tucker Foley has opened his fair share of doors in his lifetime. Good and bad. Who hasn't though? There are millions of different types. There are hospital doors which scare him out of his skin. There are the Casper High doors which hold the bullies during school hours. And there's the Fenton's front door which is never locked.

But there are also metaphorical doors too.

When a girl turns him down it's like a door has been slammed into his gut.

The door of opportunity to go to college closing as his grades slip.

The death of a loved one as they cross into whatever after life they're given.

Doors are also like choices. You open one door, and there are five more waiting on the other side, keen to be chosen.

The best doorway Tucker has ever opened has got to be his choice to sit with Danny on the first day of kindergarten.

He'd been nervous. He'd never been around so many kids before. But he saw Danny sitting all by his lonesome and decided to join him. From there they drew many different pictures of robots and rockets that they stuck around Danny's room.

As a result of opening Danny's door, Tucker was dragged through Sam's in second grade. He didn't understand girls yet, he still thought they had cooties, but he was quickly informed that they in fact did not.

She fit perfectly into their friendship, bats and spiders joining the pictures on the walls.

The worst doorway Tucker has ever witnessed is no doubt the ghost portal tearing a hole between dimensions with Danny inside it. Hearing the screams, seeing his skin flicker. It had been terrifying. When Danny had fallen out of the portal unrecognizable Tucker had been so afraid.

He didn't know that it had been Danny who'd fallen out, what had happened to him.

Tucker thought he'd lost his best friend until that white ring appeared around his waist, leaving a charred human boy on the floor of the lab.

The nightmares of that day still plagued his mind sometimes, but it no longer happened every night.

But now, they were juniors in high school. Many more doorways had been opened in the years since the accident. Many bad, some good.

Right now, the three of them were playing hide and seek. Tucker chose a very particular door to hide behind.

He was hunched under some blankets on the floor in Danny's closet.

Tucker was waiting for the right time to tell Danny he was bi. Sam already knew, but that was because she actually noticed things.

Suddenly he heard the door opening and someone dogpiled on top of him. Struggling, he shoved them to the floor and pulled the blankets off and glared at them.

And there sat Danny, looking at him with a big smile and bright eyes.

"The closet, Tucker? That's like, hide and seek level 1."

Danny stood and held his hand out to help Tucker up. Once he was standing, he took a deep breath.

"Yeah!" He said nervously. "And here I am. Coming out of the closet."

He stepped through the doorway and did some small jazz hands.

"Tada?"

Danny rolled his eyes at Tucker.

"You're such a dork."

"And you're a nerd."

Danny stuck his tongue out before grabbing Tucker's hand to drag him out of the room and downstairs.

"Sam wants to go to the Nasty Burger for lunch, she's waiting outside."

As they stepped outside into the sun, Tucker interlocked their fingers. Sam raised an eyebrow at the boys intertwined hands, before smirking and walking down the sidewalk.

Tucker and Danny's eyes met, and they smiled, swinging their arms back and forth in between them.

Tucker will never regret opening that door on that day so long ago.


	2. Secrets

Dash had a secret.

Well, all the A-listers had secrets. They hid things away because they weren't deemed "cool enough."

Kwan liked knitting. Paulina was more interested in writing than cheerleading. Star was interested in performing in some way.

And Dash had a crush on Danny Fenton.

Nobody knew about this, except maybe Kwan, being his best friend and all.

Dash didn't know what he could possibly do. He'd been wailing on Fenton for a couple years now. Things like that don't just go away.

Dash has stopped all that, except for the occasional noogie and banter session. Except now his hand would linger on Fenton's shoulder instead of shoving him straight into the wall and Dash no longer called him names.

At first Fenton had looked confused, but soon he started to banter and tease Dash back.

One day, Dash had been psyching himself up to tell Fenton his feelings. He'd apologized to him, and they weren't quite friends, but the emotions were eating him alive.

Now, Dash and Danny were trapped by a ghost in the cafeteria. It was the same one that terrorized Dash and Phantom a couple years ago.

It was staring Danny down, pointing a gun at him, before picking up a lunch table and hurling it towards Dash.

Dash closed his eyes and held his arms above his head, waiting for the impact. The table crashed behind Dash and his legs went numb at the sound.

_Oh, god. I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead and Danny's parents are gonna hunt me and-_

Dash peeked open an eye to see Danny beside him, a vice like grip on his arm.

The ghost was staring them down, gun aimed. The gun was cocked and Danny's grip moved to his wrist, pulling him away.

"Come on!" He yelled, dragging Dash behind him.

Dash doesn't know what happened. Why wasn't he squished under the table right now?

Soon Danny was shoving him into a closet, getting ready to head back down the hallway.

"Wait!" Dash gasped out. "Why are you going back out there? That thing could kill you!"

"Somebody has to stop it! Do you want anyone else to get hurt?"

"No, but-"

Dash stopped as Danny glared at him, his eyes gleaming green in the dark room.

"Stay here until I get back."

Dash stared wide eyed at the closed door, mind reeling at what he saw.

Why were Danny's eyes glowing? Did Dash's eyes glow too? Or was it just Fenton?

Soon Dash could hear Phantom's familiar voice through the walls yelling at the other ghost. He heard his name being shouted and was startled.

Was he yelling about the ghost attacking Dash? Phantom wasn't even there yet how would he know-

Oh.

_Oh. _

Those gleaming eyes flashed in Dash's mind again, chills running through his body.

Danny had one hell of a secret.


	3. Grave

It was a bright sunny day. The leaves were a crisp green, and there was a warm breeze blowing through the trees.

Kwan was walking down a path, through headstones and flowers, until he came to a simple, but pretty, rock on one of the graves. He slung the camping chair he brought off of his shoulder, unfolding it and placing it next to the headstone.

Plopping down, he pulled two beers out of a cooler, putting one on the ground next to some flowers, and cracking open his own.

"Hey." Kwan said. "I know this isn't how you wanted to spend today, but we should celebrate it somehow, right?"

Off in the distance, a bird squawked.

"Yeah, I know. You'd rather be in a bar getting wasted and hitting on some 'babes'." Kwan held up air quotes. "But this is pretty chill too."

He took a sip of his drink, watching as the clouds crawled across the sky.

"The town is pretty peaceful now." Kwan says. "Ever since.. You know.. Phantom managed to strike a deal with the ghosts somehow. I'm not sure if he threatened them or what, but most of them stay out of Amity Park now. Phantom's not even around a lot anymore."

Kwan sighed. "There's not as much excitement anymore either. But what's the cost of that when everyone's safe, you know?"

He tapped the side of his beer can with his fingers, staring blankly at the sky as he thought.

"Everyone misses you, man. We all thought that, hey, the towns haunted. Maybe you'll come back and cause even more havoc than you did before." He chuckled sadly. "I think that having such a close relationship with death taught us all that the afterlife wouldn't be all it's cracked up to be though.

"Wherever you are, I hope you're okay and having a blast. Maybe there are even some ghost babes somewhere swooning over you."

Kwan downed the rest of his drink, packing everything up. Before he left, he picked the other beer up and opened it.

"I hope you had a good 21st birthday, man."

He poured the beer into the grass, and patted the headstone before walking away.

_Loving son and friend_

_Dashiel Logan Baxter_

_July 27th, 1990_

_May 2nd, 2008_


	4. Wishes

Vlad sat in his bed in his dorm room, leaning against the wall.

Soon Jack walked in, two beers in hand, and plopped down next to Vlad.

They'd had a terrible day in the lab yesterday. Their proto-portal had been unsuccessful. More than unsuccessful actually.

There had been an accident.

The portal had been starting up when a blast had shot out, nearly hitting Vlad. It bounced around the room until it hit their friend, Maddie. She'd been hospitalized and was suffering from something Jack had dubbed "ectoacne".

Vlad was so scared as the ectoplasm hurtled across the room, but now he was more afraid of how Maddie was doing. He hoped that she would make it out okay.

Vlad sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before taking a sip of beer.

"Man, I just.. I just wish it would've been me instead, y'know?" Vlad said, turning to look up at Jack.

"I hear you, V-man. I would have rather taken the hit too."

Jack slung an arm around Vlad's shoulders.

"But we can't change the past. We'll just have to be there for her when she's feeling better. If she doesn't hate me that is." Jack's eyes grew sad.

"Why would she hate you?" Vlad asked.

"I was the one who got you two into the whole ghosts thing. It was my invention. Why wouldn't she hate me?"

"C'mon, Jack. Have you seen yourself? You're Jack Fenton! Who wouldn't love you?" Vlad smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"Aw shucks, Vladdie. Thanks."

"No problem, Jack."

They clinked their bottles together and took another drink.

As they downed the rest of their beers, neither of them noticed the echoey whisper coming from the air vent at the top of the wall.

_So you wish it, so shall it be. _


	5. Second GenChildhood Memory

Anastasia was tucking her youngest, Oliver, into bed, when he suddenly pointed at an old photograph on the wall.

"Mommy, who is that?"

She turned and looked, seeing a remaining photo of Vlad.

"Oh. Well, that's your Uncle Vlad, my brother."

"Where is he?"

The question made Anastasia freeze as she held the blanket between her fingers. Quickly, she tucked him in, saying goodnight and heading towards the door.

"Mommy?"

She stopped and sighed. She turned towards the picture and walked towards it, taking it off the wall. She sat down next to her son on his bed.

"He's away." She said quietly.

"Away where?" Oliver asked, crawling into her lap and looking at the photo.

"We don't know. He just up and left one day. Haven't heard from him since."

Anastasia looked down to see a sad expression on Oliver's face.

"_But_," she said, "we did have some fun adventures when we were kids."

His eyes perked back up at that. "Really? What did you guys do?"

"Well, we were a very mischievous pair, always getting into trouble. We played tag, played make believe with the frog statues outside, explored the abandoned house."

"Can I go to the abandoned house?!" Oliver exclaimed, bouncing with excitement.

"No, no, dear. The building is much too old. It's probably a lot more dangerous than it was when we were kids."

He pouted for a moment, before looking at the photo again.

"Do you think he'll ever come back?"

Anastasia turned her own gaze to the old photograph. Her fingers traced the grain of the frame.

"I don't know." She whispered.

"I hope he does." Oliver said softly.

"Me too, Oliver. Me too."

Anastasia stood up and tucked Oliver back into bed. She gave him a goodnight kiss and walked to the door, turning off the light before shutting it.

Heading into her own room, she opened a cabinet that held different photo albums and picture frames. There was even a raggedy teddy bear and an old, handcrafted turtle.

She hugged the picture frame tightly to her chest. After a few moments she carefully placed it inside and closed the door.


	6. Compromise

Danny was fighting a horde of ghosts when he heard the whine of an ectoblaster to his left. He turned to see his mom standing there aiming at the other ghosts.

"Not trying to tear me apart molecule by molecule today?"

"Just because you're good firepower doesn't mean you'll be safe tomorrow, spook." Maddie retorted.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Glad to know that what I do everyday is what it'd take for you to not dissect me!" He looked back at Maddie and shot a ghost that was coming up from behind her. For a moment her aimed stuttered as it tried to instinctively move towards Danny who's blast had went over her shoulder.

"Give me one good reason to not just shoot you once we're done with this wave of specters!"

"I got a really good reason." Danny mumbled. Louder, he said, "C'mon. Can't we come up with some sort of compromise? A truce? A job position? Really, anything will work as long as I don't get-"

Maddie turned the gun towards him as he was rambling. He flung his hands up in front of his face as she fired. The blast flew to the left of him, exploding a ghost that had been coming up unnoticed.

"-Shot."

He turned back towards his side of the field they were in. After a few moments of blasting ghosts away, Maddie spoke again.

"You know how you can convince me to stop hunting you?"

Danny hummed, an ectoblast firing from his palm.

"Tell me who you were before you died."

Danny's ectoblast puttered out as his brain stopped. But the ghosts were moving fast and he had to punch the next one in the face.

"Uh, is there _anything else_ I can do?"

"You're dead, what's it matter if we know who you were?"

"Because! What if I still have family around? What if they were put in danger because the public knew who I was?"

Maddie was silent for a moment. "What if you just tell me?"

"No!"

"Why not?!"

"Because!"

"You will tell me, or so help me _god_."

"Or what? You'll ground me, _mom?_"

Silence. Danny's heart dropped at the realization.

"What?" Maddie said, a mix of shock and suspicious disbelief.

"What?" Danny squeaked.

They shot at the last few ghosts. Danny floated to the ground, twiddling with his fingers as he looked at Maddie, who was in turn studying him. Her eyes were squinted and her gaze traveled over his face. Looking into his eyes, Maddie gasped.

"_Danny?!_"

Danny waggled his fingers in a nervous wave at her.

"Hi, mom."


	7. SolarUniverse

Vlad stared up at Danielle as she towered over him, fists bright with ectoplasm. Anger scoured her face and she glared at him. Her chest rose and fell as she heaved in deep breaths.

Somehow Vlad and Danielle had went from their sweet, familial bond to this. He messed up somewhere along the way. Plasmius made him go off his rockers and there was no way to fix it.

He messed up bad.

The light of his life, his sun, had a look of betrayal on her face. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she stared down at him.

"Well, _dad_," she spat out. "I'd say I'm glad to see you, but we both know that's not true."

Tears welled up in Vlad's own eyes. He'd made her so cold. She didn't seem like that bright eyed little girl anymore.

She was dangerous. Volatile. She was more like a solar flare. No longer the sun shining in a blue sky during the summer, but a fatal coronal mass ejection.

"I've been waiting a long time for this." Danielle said lowly.

She was now a young adult. She'd disappeared soon after helping Danny escape. He didn't know she was still alive.

How was she still alive?

When he saw her burst in through the ceiling, his heart clenched. She'd grown up and he missed it.

But he didn't deserve to be there for any of it. He knew that. He didn't deserve a wonderful daughter like her. He didn't deserve anything.

Danielle charge up an ectoblast. It kept growing larger and larger. It looked like a swirl of galaxies and stars floating in the palm of her hand. And she let it loose.

Vlad clenched his eyes shut, tears rolling down his cheeks. It hit him, throwing him across the floor. Cheek pressed against the tiles, Vlad opened one eye to see Danielle's boots walking away from him. They started to grow blurry and dark.

Finally, his eyes shut. Darkness embraced him.


	8. Sisters

It had been a few months since Paulina moved in with the Manson's. Sam had given them some sort of half truth the next morning when they had all woken up. After that, everything started rolling pretty smoothly.

Mrs. Manson was so delighted once she realized she had someone who would willingly dress up and go shopping with her. They went out shopping for dresses, shoes, makeup. They even got frozen yogurt. It made Paulina's heart burst.

It was the first time someone's made her feel wanted in this kind of way.

Yeah, she's wanted because she's popular and pretty. But that's different than being wanted in a familial way. After a month, one day when Mrs. Manson took Paulina to a fancy dinner with her friends, she introduced her as her daughter which made Paulina smile so big.

Being Mrs. Manson's pseudo daughter then in turn made Sam her sister. Which kind of fit a little. They still bickered a lot at first and they were scolded when they did so. But eventually they got along better and Paulina even started hanging out with Sam's friends.

Something still felt off about their new relationship though. Not off in a bad way. But Paulina couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Until one night while they were watching a movie. Her and Sam were sharing one of the oversized seats in the theater. Paulina was wearing one of Sam's hoodies and had her legs draped over the other girls lap.

Something happened on screen, causing Paulina to jump and some strands of hair came loose from the clip holding them back.

Sam looked at Paulina and smiled, reaching over and tucking the strand of hair back behind her ear.

Paulina froze and gaped at Sam who had gone back to watching the movie.

The cogs in her brain began to turn as she processed what just happened and it clicked.

Despite what Mrs. Manson thought, Sam and Paulina hadn't been forming a sisterly bond, no. Because that move right there?

That was so fucking gay and it was making Paulina swoon.

Sam's eyes flicked away from the movie and landed on Paulina. She smirked before returning her gaze to the movie and whispering something.

"Clueless."


	9. World Building

It had been a couple days after Vlad left when Anastasia finally noticed it.

Whenever a ghost was around, she would get this prickling sensation all over her skin. It made her shiver and her hair stand on end. Goosebumps would erupt on her arms.

But ever since Vlad left.

They were gone.

She knew they wouldn't be gone forever. They lived in a haunted town, there was no getting around that. But their house hadn't ever been inhabited by ghosts. Not until Vlad came home after the accident. The sensations Anastasia felt were daily then.

What she didn't understand was why. Was it just a ghost passing by? One from out of town? Did ghosts even travel like that?

Or was it Vlad himself?

Anastasia knew that Vlad and his friends were into some kind of ghost science. That's what they had been working on when Vlad was hospitalized. But how did that affect Vlad?

Did he just absorb a lot of toxins when it happened? Was it because of the ectoacne? Was it from being around so much ghost stuff for so long?

Anastasia didn't know. All she knew was that she was sad Vlad was gone but she felt so much more comfortable. The house was warmer and there was no longer any manic laughing late at night.

She knew that she didn't want to think of the alternative.

The alternative meant that somehow Vlad was dead. Even though they checked him out of the hospital and drove him home. Even though he still ate and breathed and peed and did very normal human things.

That meant Vlad couldn't be dead right? A ghost wouldn't be able to trick someone to that degree.

Right?

But he did know a lot about ghosts. He studied them. He grew up in a town full of them. If anyone's ghost could pull that off it would make sense it'd be Vlad's.

Anastasia wasn't sure what happened. But she knew where she could start.

Jack Fenton.


	10. Favorite Au

Danny wasn't expecting this to be happening today. Or any day, really.

Currently he was floating up on the ceiling of Dash Baxter's room with a bunch of alternate versions of him and his friends.

They'd stumbled in here to avoid the news reporters after a ghost attack. Everyone was all "who are all of you guys" and "is Phantom part of a gang." Which will probably end badly for Danny so they left.

To make matters worse, all of them, _every single goddamn one of them_, had gotten blasted with one of his parents inventions and now all they could do was fly.

Now, they were trapped in Dash's room. He hadn't noticed them when he walked in and now he was jamming to some sort of musical songs at his desk.

Danny heard a snort come from behind him and turned to glare at, well, him. Danny B. Fenton was laughing at Dash dancing along to whatever he was listening to.

"I forgot how much of a dork the meathead could be when he wasn't beating the shit out of all the losers at school."

"Hey!" Danny turned his head. It was Dash Casper. He didn't wanna know how that Dash managed to get ghost powers. "Leave him alone! He can listen to whatever he wants!"

"He can also watch romance movies and horde teddy bears. Doesn't mean he's not a dork."

"Would you guys quit it!" That was Sam Manes. Danny can't imagine how Sam's parents were the ones to get interested in ghost hunting.

"Or what, Princess? You'll kill me with activism?" Danny B. Fenton said, a smirk on his face.

Sam visibly bristled. "Don't call me Princess, fuckwit."

"What should we call you then? Sammykins?"

Sam whipped her head around to glare daggers at Tucker Ghouly who was behind her.

"I'm gonna punch you, and it'll hurt a lot harder than what your Sam can do."

Danny groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, running a hand across his face. "Looks guys, I know we're all frustrated and cranky, but bickering is not gonna help us out here."

"Pip squeaks got a point here. First we figure out how to get out unnoticed by meathead down there-"

"Hey!"

"-then we go back to Fentonworks and figure out how to fix this."

As Danny B. Fenton finished talking, his eyes widened as he looked out over Danny's shoulder. They all turned to see the Dash at the desk gaping up at them, his gaze traveling between all of them. His gaze stopped on Dash Casper.

"Are you-?" He started.

Danny interrupted him. "Nope! He's not! None of us are!"

"-gonna mug me?" Dash finally squeaked out.

"What? No!" Danny yelled out.

"Then why's your gang in my room, Phantom?"

"They're not my gang!" Danny groaned. "Okay guys we're leaving."

They were all back outside but Danny B. Fenton leaned back in the window to shout something at Dash.

"You better keep a close eye on your teddy bears. You wouldn't want anything to happen to them."

Dash Casper let out an offended gasp and Tucker let out a "hah!"

Sam floated up to Danny, an exasperated look on her face.

"I can't wait until we're all back home. I don't think I can handle all this cockiness."

"You and me Sam." Danny said. "You and me."


	11. Redesign

It'd been a few weeks since Paulina started living with the Mansons, and Sam had already had it up to here with her.

Yeah, she loved her.

Uh.

_Cough._

She was starting to grow on her.

But that didn't mean she'd allow Paulina to do whatever she wanted. She'll take nope for 1000 Alex.

Sam agreed to a 'girl's day' with Paulina. They hung out together all the time at home. Why did they need a day called a girl's day to do the same thing?

Or at least Sam thought it'd be the same thing but Paulina had other ideas.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sam said, a deadpan expression on her face.

"Nope!" Paulina exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "We're gonna redesign your whole wardrobe!"

"Oh no." Sam groaned. "Look, Paulina, I know you wanna do 'girl things', but this isn't-"

"We'll go and get you nice pretty dresses and beautiful shoes! We could even get our makeup done somewhere fancy!"

Sam's shoulders slumped and her head tipped back. "Nooo." Paulina didn't hear her and kept talking.

"When I was at the mall with your mom the other day I found something I think you'd really like. It was this nice pink-"

"No!" Sam shouted. Paulina shrunk in on herself. Sam sighed. "Look, Paulina. I get that you like those things and my mom likes those things, but I don't. I like goth and dark colors and depressing abysses. My thing works for me and your thing works for you."

Paulina nodded.

"But." Sam said. "We can still go get our nails done or something?"

"And I think that thing I found comes in purple too?"

Sam held up her arm. "It's a date."

Paulina smiled and hooked her arm with Sam's.

Sam will take_ yes _for 1000.


	12. Crossover

Stan pines was traveling into town when he saw it. Another part of this spooky towns dangerous magical properties.

There was a ghost floating in the alleyway, chest heaving, as he turned this way and that, scanning the sky. Stan wasn't about to stay around and get caught up in this mumbo jumbo and was about to continue walking down the street.

But then a flash caught his eye.

Appearing around the waist of the floating phantom was a bright white ring. It traveled along the span of his body until a human teenager was left behind.

Now, Stan's seen some strange things living in this town for twenty five years, but he's never seen something like this.

The kid, now that he apparently deemed himself safe, leaned back against the wall of the building, and slid down hiding his face in his knees.

Something inside Stan's heart cracked and without thinking about it, he walked down the alleyway and stood in front of the kid. He nudged the boys foot with his own.

That was a mistake.

The kid raised his arm, hand glowing green, and shot towards Stan, sending him diving to the ground. The kid looked at him with wide eyes and shaking hands.

"I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else!"

Stan sat up and groaned. He looked at the kid.

"It's fine. What are you doing out here all by yourself anyways?"

At this the kid clammed up, breaking eye contact with Stan. He sighed.

"Fine, fine. Don't tell me. Do you want something to eat though? I was just on my way to the grocery store. You can pick something out and I'll make it when we get back to my place."

The boy sent him an odd, suspicious look.

"Why?"

"I was kicked out when I was 17." Stan said, looking away. "I was on the run and making bad choices. I didn't have anyone to look after me.

"Plus you look like you haven't eaten anything in days."

The kid snorted. "Imagine how you'd feel having the metabolism of both a teenage boy and a ghost."

Stan stood up and held out a hand to him. "Imagine if I had any metabolism at all."

He smirked at that and grabbed Stan's hand, pulling himself up.

"What's your name, old man?"

Stan mock gasped, a hand at his chest. "Old man? I'll have you know that I can take on loads of supernatural creatures with just my brass knuckles, mister 'I can shoot weird stuff from my bare hands.'"

The kid waved Stan's comment away. "Yeah, yeah. You gotta tell your name though. Otherwise I'll just keep calling you old man and it'll stick."

"The one and only Stan Pines!" Stan said as he straightened his bow tie. "And you?"

He laughed and shook his head before answering.

"Danny. Danny Fenton."


	13. Confined

Vlad was sick of being confined to a hospital room for weeks on end. All he wanted to do was go home and lay in his own bed. He wanted not nasty hospital food and fresh air.

He wanted out.

But they haven't figured out how to make the ectoacne go away yet. It was still covering his face.

_Stupid Jack. Stupid portal. Stupid ghosts. _

His hand chose this moment to go intangible and fall into the bed. Vlad groaned.

As if having some sort of interdimensional infection on his face was bad enough, he also got some kind of genetic mutation. He was exhibiting ghostly properties. Which would be cool. If he wasn't stuck in the hospital.

Jack would have a field day with this.

Soon after Vlad pulled his hand out of the bed and turned it tangible once more, a nurse decked out in a full hazmat suit walked in.

"Your friends are here to see you again. Do you want me to send them in this time?"

Vlad shook his head and rolled onto his side to face the opposite wall. A few seconds passed before the door gently shut and he was alone again.

He was sure they just wanted to apologize and see how he was doing. They were best friends and everything. But Vlad was just so angry.

Angry at Jack for ruining the experiment. Angry at Jack for ruining his life. Angry at Jack for taking Maddie from him.

He was just so, so angry at Jack.

Vlad could feel the anger bubbling up in his chest unlike anything he's ever felt before. He wasn't sure exactly what this was, but he knew it wasn't supposed to be there.

It felt like someone else was there inside him, riling him up and pulling strings to turn the anger into hatred, making him hunger for vengeance. Turning it into an obsession.

Vlad didn't want to see his friends because yes he was angry. But he was also afraid of what he would do to them if he saw them. He'd rather break their hearts a million times than break one of their limbs.

But as time went on and these feelings morphed and mutated, Vlad was no longer only confined in this hospital room.

He was also being confined inside his own mind.


	14. DND

Today Danny wasn't wearing his normal shirt.

He was wearing a shirt that said "Do Not Delete."

This shirt wouldn't have become such an issue if a certain jock hadn't made a comment about it as the trio walked home after school that day.

"Ha! Who wouldn't want to delete Fentertainment Tonight? Everyone wishes they had a remote for that!" Dash bellowed.

Danny sent Tucker a look with a raised eyebrow before turning to Dash.

"Oh yeah? If only there was a remote like that. I could delete you instead, Baxter." Danny said.

Dash scoffed. "As if. Who would wanna delete this guy." He flexed his arms.

"Well, Dash. We've been working on a new operating system that coincides with Danny's genetic signature." Sam says.

"Which means..?"

"We can basically put him in time out when he's being a nerd." Tucker said, pulling his PDA out of his pocket.

"Hey!"

"But here we have the program and it's code." Tucker continued. "If we just put a couple zero's here… And a one there…"

Tucker pointed the PDA at Danny.

"And press delete-!"

Danny's body flickered in and out of sight before he let out a yell and disappeared.

"Poof! He's gone."

Dash paled.

"What'd you do to Fenton, Foley?!"

"Nothing really. His atoms are scrambled right now. He's floating all around us."

"What happens if part of him goes missing and he comes back without an arm?!"

"Relax, relax." Sam said, waving Dash's comments away. "We've done this plenty of times and he's always come back." She held up a finger to her lips and looked into the sky with a thinking expression on her face.

"Though one time he came back with two different colored eyes."

"Wanna see what it's like, Dash?" Tucker said, smiling as he held up his PDA again.

"Hell no! I'm good. I'm outta here, you freaks!"

He walked away and after a minute or two Danny appeared, laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach.

"Did you see his face, guys? Oh my god. He totally believed that!"

The other two burst into laughter with him and they continued on their way home.

At school in the weeks following this, Dash avoided the trio. He sent Tucker glances, paling and turning away as soon as he noticed they were looking. But one day, he was watching the news when an interesting story was being aired.

"Hi I'm Tiffany Snow and this is Amity News! Today the ghost boy's, Danny Phantom's, secret identity has been revealed after the meteor passed safely through the planet."

Dash sat on the edge of the couch as he awaited the reveal.

"Danny Phantom is Danny Fenton, son of renowned ghost hunter's and scientists, Jack and Maddie Fenton. After the Disateroid-"

Dash couldn't hear the tv anymore and the bowl of popcorn he'd been holding fell to the floor.

"Oh my fucking god." Dash groaned.

Foley never actually deleted Fenton.


	15. Alternate Ending

The disasteroid was due to hit in thirteen hours.

Their attempt to destroy it had been unsuccessful and no one had any other feasible ideas on how they could survive the meteor.

The information Vlad had gathered about the meteor before his spaceship exploded was transferred over his network to his lab on earth.

It was made out of ectoranium.

It was a rare substance that ghosts could not touch or interact with. Making it impossible to phase the meteor through the earth. Vlad had to stop Daniel from making a public announcement for a plan him and his friends came up with because yes they could make the earth intangible, but it was ectoranium. It wouldn't work.

Now they were in their final hours. Families were spending their last night on earth together. People were making amends.

Vlad stood outside the Fenton's door. The night was silent. Not even a rat could be heard scuttling through the alley.

He hasn't knocked yet. He doesn't know what he'll say. Or what they'll even think. Would they spend their last hours alive hating Vlad? Would it finally bring him peace before his final demise?

Vlad took a deep, shuddering breath before he knocked on the door.

Maddie opened, brushing a tear off her face as she looked at Vlad. A brief look of disgust flashed over her face before pity replaced it.

"Hello, Maddie."

"Hi, Vlad." He looked down at his feet.

Silence permeated the air between them, heavy and cold.

"Did you finally go see Anastasia?" Maddie asked.

Vlad nodded. "I flew there a few days ago. We talked everything out and made our peace."

She stared at Vlad before speaking again. "Why aren't you still with her?"

He looked back up at her. "I needed to speak to you and Jack about something before this all goes down."

Maddie studied him before finally gesturing him inside. They walked into the kitchen where the rest of the family was seated. Jazz and Danny gave him distrustful glances while Jack jumped up from his seat and nearly barreled Vlad over with a hug.

"Vladdie! I thought we wouldn't get to see you before tomorrow! How is Anastasia doing? And Oliver? He's gotten so big. He's nearly Danny's age now-"

"Jack." Vlad said. "Can we go talk somewhere private?"

Vlad's tone of voice immediately deflated Jacks excitement into concern. The three of them walked downstairs into the lab where they sat on some stools at one of the tables.

They waited in silence as Vlad took deep breaths, eyes closed and facing the floor. He opened his tear filled eyes and looked at them.

"I fucked up." Vlad whispered. "I did some things I'm ashamed of and I want to explain everything to you two before everything is gone tomorrow."

Jack and Maddie shared a look of concern before turning back to him.

"Vladdie, you can tell us anything. You know that, right?" Jack said.

Vlad shrugged. "I did. But then the accident happened and I was just… So filled with rage. It consumed me and the feelings got warped by… By this other part of me. I've done many horrible things I regret.

"It all started with the accident. It didn't just give me ectoacne. It mutated my DNA in a way we never would have thought possible."

"What are you saying, Vlad?" Maddie asked.

"It made me half ghost." Vlad whispered. "It took the strongest feelings I'd been exhibiting at the time and twisted them into some mutated version of it and turned them into my ghostly obsession."

"Half ghost?" Jack exclaimed. "How is that possible? You look as human as can be over there, Vladdie."

Vlad took another shuddering breath before a black ring appeared around his waist. It traveled over his body until it left Plasmius in his place.

"You?!" Maddie hissed. "The Wisconsin ghost?"

"Vlad?" Jack whispered.

"I'm so-"

Vlad was interrupted by a punch being thrown across his face.

"How dare you!" Maddie screeched, pulling an ectogun from underneath the table. "How dare you come into our home all this time! Masquerading as our friend!"

"Please, Maddie. I'm still Vlad. I came here to apologize!"

"You're not Vlad! You're just some sick ghost! What did you do to Vlad?!"

"Mom?"

The attention of all three adults was directed to the two teenagers who had snuck down the stairs. It was Danny who had spoken, an uneasy expression on his face.

"Kids, go back upstairs."

"Mom, what happened?" Jazz asked.

"This ghost is an imposter! He's been pretending to be Vlad for twenty years!"

Jack was looking between Maddie and Vlad, a conflicted expression on his face.

"He's not an imposter." Danny said.

"Sweetie, there's no way you can know that. You never knew what he was like before the accident." Maddie said. The gun shook in her hand.

"No." Danny said. He took a few cautious steps and placed himself between Maddie and Vlad. "But I've been in my own accident."

A ring of white light appeared around Danny's waist, much like the one that appeared around Vlad earlier. Once it disappeared Phantom was left behind.

"Danny?" Maddie whispered, hand faltering.

He raised his hands slowly. "As much as I hate the fruitloop," Danny pointed over his shoulder at Vlad, "and as scared as I am right now, we have thirteen hours left. We have no more time for secrets, and no more time for regrets."

Maddie lowered her gun and it clattered to the floor. She launched herself at Danny, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Danny."

"It's alright, mom." Danny said, patting her back.

"Vladdie?"

Vlad turned to face Jack who opened his arms to him. Vlad transformed again and accepted Jack's hug.

"Thank you for telling us." Jack whispered.

Vlad chuckled. "Thanks for not murdering me."

They headed back upstairs where Danny and Jazz called their friends. After that they played board games and watched tv and cried.

Twelve hours later and Danny had managed to get Sam and Tucker's families over. Spike was there too.

They had the news on and the timer was counting down. Spike was gripping Jazz's hand with ferocious anxiety. Jack had his arms wrapped around both Maddie and Vlad's shoulders. Danny, Sam, and Tucker were sitting closely together holding each others hands.

_00:00:03_

_ 00:00:02_

_ 00:00:01_

_ 00:00:00_

And everything was gone.


	16. Animals

Spike was at home with Princess. Recently she'd been able to leave the vet office and she now had free reign of his apartment.

He took off the bowtie collar with a nametag on it that matched the one Jazz's cat Arthur wore. Princess accompanied him back to the office and she liked to look professional.

Spike had just sat down on the couch to eat his dinner when he saw little bursts of green light coming from his bedroom. He set his bowl on the coffee table and walked down the hallway. As he entered the room, he saw Princess laying on her back looking at balls of ectoplasm bursting above her.

A wave of anxiety rolled through him and he scooped Princess off the floor and into his arms. At her noise of surprise though, the ectoplasm puttered out and disappeared. He placed her down on the bed and looked around the room.

First he peeked in the closet.

Then he looked under the bed.

He even leaned out the window to see if anything was happening out there.

But there was nothing. No trace of any ghost.

"Weird…" Spike mumbled. He shut the window and turned back around and jumped as he saw the ectoballs floating above Princess again.

"Princess! Come here!" Spike hissed.

As Princess's attentioned diverted to him for a moment, the balls flickered until her gaze traveled back upwards.

Spike's jaw dropped as the realization hit. He ran into the living room, searching for his cell phone. He pulled up a contact and hit call, listening as it rang.

Finally, the ringing stopped.

"Hi, Spike. What's up?"

"You're never going to believe this." Spike breathed.

"Princess has ghost powers."


	17. Séance

Three A-listers, Dash, Kwan, and Paulina, sat inside a small dark room. It was dimly lit with candles and shadows were flickering across the walls.

"Who was it that you three wanted to speak to again?"

They were talking to a medium. They were paying money to see if a psychic could talk to a ghost for them.

"Phantom! You know that ghost kid that's always flying around town?" Dash said.

"Yeah! He has the most beautiful white hair." Paulina gushed.

"Okay. Do you have anything that will help draw his energy? Such as a personal belonging?"

Paulina nodded and handed the psychic a thermos. She raised an eyebrow but didn't question it.

She placed the thermos in the center of the table in front of a crystal ball. Kwan had scoffed at the sight but was silenced by his friends.

The medium placed her fingertips on the crystal ball and began speaking.

"Dearest Phantom, we are here to speak with you. Do you desire to speak with us?"

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Danny was walking home from the Nasty Burger when he heard it. There was a lady speaking inside his head. Asking if he wanted to "speak with them." Speak with who?

"Um.. Hello?" Danny whispered. When that received no response he changed tactics.

_Hello?_

"Hello Phantom. I'm here with some people who would like to ask you a few questions. Would you be alright with that?"

What?

_Who even is this?_

"This is Madame Forester, a medium at a shop downtown."

_Who's dumb enough to pay you for this?_

"I have two jocks and their pretty little friend. She says you know her? She likes you very much."

Danny groaned.

Dash and Paulina were going to be the end of him.

_Could you just give me the address?_

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Dash and Paulina watched on with barely contained excitement as the medium talked into the thermos. Kawn was standing behind them leaning against the wall, a scowl on his face.

"You guys don't seriously buy this, do you? She has a crystal ball for pete's sake!"

"Now, now." The psychic said, waving away his comment. "Wait a few minutes and you'll see."

The minutes passed slowly as Kwan brooded in the corner while Dash and Paulina chatted excitedly. Soon enough, the temperature dropped in the room and Phantom dropped from the ceiling.

Paulina squealed and threw herself at Phantom. He floated up at the last second and she fell to the floor.

"Ghost boy!" She whined. "That wasn't very polite of you!"

"Yeah, well neither is paying someone to send a phone call through your head!" Danny yelled.

He sighed. "Look, guys. I know you think I'm cool and awesome or whatever. But can you two," He pointed at Dash and Paulina. "Please, _please_, hold off on all the summoning and talking and whatever?

"Do you know how exhausting it is to get pulled into someone's attic in the middle of the night? Or how invasive it is to get a phone call inside my brain?"

Paulina's shoulders drooped and Dash looked away.

"Sorry man." Dash said. "You're just, like, the coolest."

"And the cutest." Paulina pouted.

"And you." Danny said pointing at Kwan. "Mr. "Pouting in the corner-"

"I'm not pouting!"

"-Can you keep these two in line? Because I hope at least one of you is reasonable otherwise this is a fruitless effort."

Kwan sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'll try as much as I have been. These two don't like to listen to anyone."

Danny nodded. "Okay, well, uh thanks I guess. Stay out of trouble. And.. wash your hands!"

He floated back up through the ceiling and was gone.

After a few moments the medium spoke up again.

"How's that crystal ball working for you now, sonny?"


	18. Favorite Character

Warning: mention of homophobia

Dash was sitting up at the top of a tree at the park. He had too much on his mind and he needed somewhere to think. To get away.

He had all these different feelings inside his head. Anger. Fear. Love. He didn't know which one he wanted to deal with first. Dealing with one meant dealing with another anyways.

Maybe he just wouldn't deal.

As Dash sat there, a familiar mop of white hair appeared in front of Dash's face. It startled him, almost making him fall from the tree before Phantom grabbed his shoulders.

"Watch it, man!" Dash said, shoving Phantom away once he had an arm wrapped around the trunk of the tree.

"Sorry, sorry!" Phantom said, holding his hands up. "What are you doing at the top of this tree anyways? Did you get stuck?"

"No!" Dash yelled. "I like to come here and think. More relaxing than it is at home."

Phantom sat criss cross in the air beside Dash. "What are you thinking about?"

Dash was silent for a few moments, contemplating his decision.

"I'll tell you but you can't say anything to anyone. Got it?"

"Yes sir." Phantom saluted.

Dash took a deep breath. "Okay, so there's this guy I like and-"

"Wait, what?" Phantom asked, a shocked expression on his face. "A guy? I thought you were into chicks like Paulina."

Dash shrugged. "I thought I was. Not so much anymore though. They just lost their appeal I guess."

"What's this guy like?"

A dreamy look replaced the nervous expression on Dash's face. "He's really cynical but he's actually super nice. He's scrawny and has pretty blue eyes and he's just-" Dash closed his eyes and put his face in his hands and groaned.

"He's just great and I've been bullying him for years."

Phantom's brows furrowed at that comment.

"Why have you been bullying him if you like him?"

Dash shook his head and looked back up into the sky, anxiety filling his face once more. "I don't know. I don't think I understood what I was feeling when I was younger. And when I finally figured it out I was scared. I think I tried to overcompensate to make sure my dad wouldn't suspect anything."

"He doesn't support that kind of thing?"

Dash snorted. "As if. He'd probably disown me."

They were quiet for a few moments.

"I'm sorry your dad is like that."

Phantom's comment was waved away. "There's nothing you can do about it. "

"Who is this guy anyways?"

Dash smiled. "You probably don't know him. He'd kind of a geek. Doesn't really stand out unless you're looking for him."

"Try me! I know lots of people!"

"Okay, okay." Dash said. "It's Danny Fenton."

Phantom's eyes grew wide at that and Dash caught onto it quickly.

"What do you think that's weird? Oh wait his parents hunt you! Of course you'd know him! Or wait- do you like him too?"

Phantom shook his head. "Dash, no. That's just not who I was expecting your answer to be."

"Why, who were you expecting it to be?"

Phantom shrugged. "I don't know. Kwan. Someone else from the football team. Some other kid. Anyone but Danny Fenton."

"Me and Kwan are best friends!" Dash exclaimed. "That'd be so weird!"

"I know, right? Why do people always assume best friends will be together?"

They were silent for a minute before Phantom spoke again.

"Do you know how you'll make it up to him?"

"Make what up?" Dash asked, confused.

"All the bullying. Do you know how you'll make up all that time to him?"

Dash paled. "No. I don't even know where to start. How do you even apologize for all that?"

"An apology usually works."

"No- ugh, you know what I mean."

Phantom shrugged. "Just go for it. What's the worse that can happen?"

"Uh, I don't know. Being outed to someone who doesn't return my feelings who I've wailed on for years?"

Phantom put a hand up, palm facing Dash. "Danny's great at keeping secrets. Trust me."

"How would you know?"

A devious grin graced Phantom's face.

"That's a secret."

They sat and watched the sun set after that. Once it was below the tree line, Phantom unfolded himself and stretched before looking at Dash.

"Want a ride home?"

Dash's eyes widened. "You mean, like, flying?"

Phantom rolled his eyes. "No, Dash, we're gonna take the train. Yes."

"How does flying work?"

"I don't know. I just kinda do it? I'll have to carry you somehow. I'm thinking bridal style because this will be your first time flying and that won't be so freaky."

Dash nodded. "Okay. My house is-"

"I already know where your house is." Phantom said as he picked Dash up and flew away.

"What? Why?"

"Uh.. Paulina invited me to a party there?"

Suddenly Phantom turned causing Dash to wrap his arms around his neck tightly, burying his face in his shoulder.

"Why are you going so fast?!" Dash said looking up at Phantom. But he was struck with recognition.

As Phantom was getting ready to speak, Dash interrupted him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you kinda look like Fenton?"

Dash yelled as he was nearly dropped. He clutched onto Phantom's jumpsuit, breathing heavily.

"Uh, no. Why?"

Dash shrugged. "I don't know. You got the same nose and everything. If your eyes and hair were just a different color…" Dash ran his fingers through Phantom's hair. His eyes widened.

"Oh dude I'm sorry that was weird and awkward."

"No, it's fine." Phantom choked out.

Soon they were at Dash's house and Phantom phased them through the walls into his room. He placed Dash down in front of his bed and floated back into the air.

"Thanks for chatting with me." Dash said sheepishly.

"No problem. Thanks for not mobbing me today. But I gotta go now."

Phantom was almost all the way through the wall when he turned back around. "And Dash?"

"Yeah?"

"Just go for it."Phantom said and then he was gone.

Dash stared at the spot of his wall that Phantom just occupied. He felt better than he has in weeks.

He can feel the smallest smidgen of hope.


	19. Favorite Episode

Dash sat in his seat in Lancer's english class. He was going on about Romeo and Macbeth or some nonsense but he couldn't stop thinking about the other day.

_Okay, that's not normal._

_ Something's wrong._

_ They're, uh, special high speed ghost shoes?_

_ Oh great, I'm losing so much power I'm reverting back to-_

_ It's, uh, casual Friday?_

Something was off about Phantom. Besides the whole powers thing. He was nervous and not his usual confident self. Why'd the weapon affect his appearance when it didn't do that to the other ghost? There were other things that seemed off too.

_ Have you ever seen him play golf? The only safe place is the hole!_

_ Oh, man. I'm one makeover away from blowing my secret identity. _

Why would Phantom know how Fenton's dad plays golf? They're ghost hunters! Why would he spend so much time there and risk getting trapped? And why would Phantom have a secret identity? He's dead! Dead people don't need them.

It never even would've crossed his mind until Phantom said that.

_ Just flip it to uncram and push the trigger!_

This moment confused Dash the most. Phantom's eyes always glowed in the dark. Sometimes they were brighter if he was particularly agitated with you, but the glow was always there.

But while Phantom was hiding in the shadows, the glow had disappeared. Dash couldn't see inside the barrel. He hadn't known if that was the equivalent to a human's death. It had sent him into a momentary panic.

But then Dash got the invention working and Phantom grew to his normal size and was okay. He was back to his normal, jumpsuited self. And then Dash said something and Phantom shrunk him back down again. What was it he said?

Oh yeah.

Giving Fenton a swirly.

Where had the geek gone to anyways? He wasn't around anywhere when him and Phantom were shrunken and Dash didn't see Fenton when Phantom flew down from that big machine thing either.

Something was still nagging at Dash. Something big. He picked up a pencil and began to doodle in his notebook.

He drew a heroic looking Phantom, smiling at the viewer. Looking at it, Dash could almost mistake it for Fenton.

Wait.

Dash took his pencil and filled in the white hair with dark graphite. His eyes widened.

_No way._

But that doesn't make any sense! Phantom's dead. Fenton's not. Phantom's strong enough to fight off dimension breaking ghost kings. Fenton can't even stand up to bullies at school.

But it also makes a lot of sense. Phantom knowing about Mr. Fenton's golfing habits. Getting upset about giving Fenton a swirly. Fenton's bathroom breaks. How Fenton and Phantom were never seen in the same place together. How Phantom used Fenton inventions.

Dash's jaw dropped.

Phantom's name was a fucking pun.

Danny Phantom. Danny Fenton.

Dash groaned. Fenton might be a heroic ghost hunter but he was still a dork.

Suddenly the bell rang, startling Dash.

Dash had no idea where they were in the book. Something about Mercutio and The Three Witches. He sprang from his seat and rushed into the hallway.

As he walked, he scanned the hall and people standing by the lockers. He needed to find Fenton.

Dash turned the corner and heard the sound of a body being slammed into a locker. Dale was holding Danny up by the shirt and getting all up in his face. Danny glowered up at him with a scowl on his face and zero fucks to give.

Then Dale dropped Danny to the floor and walked away laughing.

Danny dropped his head onto his knees and sat there for a few moments. Dash walked up to him and nudged his foot with his own.

At this Danny looked up only to scowl when he saw Dash.

"What do you want, Baxter? To wail on me? Take my lunch money? Give me a swirly?"

Dash flinched. "No, uh, actually I…" Dash sighed. He held his hand out towards where Danny was on the floor.

"Fitness buddies?"

Danny's eyes widened and he stared up at Dash for a few seconds before looking back at his hand. Grabbing it, Danny pulled himself up. He shook Dash's hand.

"Fitness buddies."


	20. Comfort

Warnings: character death(OC)

Vlad lay unmoving on the bed inside the Fenton's spare guest room. He hasn't left this spot since Jack came to his house only to find him sobbing, vases smashed and bookcases toppled over.

That's when Jack brought him here.

And today. Vlad was dreading today. He wasn't ready. He wasn't prepared. He didn't want to leave this bed.

But then he heard a knock at the door and the knob twisted. Jack walked in. He was wearing a black suit instead of his normal orange jumpsuit.

"Vladdie? We have to get going soon. I know you're still not feeling the greatest, but this is something I think you need to do."

Vlad didn't move, just kept staring at the wall ahead of him.

Jack sighed. He walked over and sat on the bed beside Vlad.

"Trust me, I know how hard this is. When I lost my mom I didn't know what I was going to do. But I was still talking to her, was still in contact. I had more closure and understanding before she inevitably passed away.

"But you didn't have that. You haven't had any sort of closure for anything and I think you need to go so you can do that. Plus we have someone that'll be waiting for us."

Suddenly a sob choked it's way through Vlad's throat. "I'm not ready." He whispered.

Jack placed a hand on Vlad's back and rubbed it soothingly. "No one is."

Vlad sat up. He took a shaky breath and nodded. Jack pulled him in for a hug.

"Come on. Let's get ready."

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

They were waiting for the casket dropping to start. Many people had flowers in hand, ready to place it on the casket before it was lowered.

Vlad looked around, seeing both familiar faces and strangers. His gaze landed on a young boy, about Daniel's age, and he took a deep breath and walked over.

"Oliver?" Vlad breathed, unsure of himself.

Oliver looked up at Vlad, surprise written across his face for a moment before he nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

Oliver shrugged, looking back down at the ground.

"Me too." Vlad whispered. They were silent for a few moments before Oliver replied softly.

"Mom talked about you a lot. She always told stories about your adventures as kids and the kind of mischief you got into. She missed you a lot."

Vlad turned his gaze to the ground as tears began to fill his eyes.

"But she was also angry and sad. She didn't know why you left." Oliver spat. "But when she learned you were alive, she was the happiest I'd ever seen her.

"But when she, before she-" Oliver choked up, tears filling his own eyes. Vlad kneeled down and brought him into an embrace and Oliver buried his face in Vlad's jacket.

"She wanted you to know she still loved you." Oliver croaked.

A sob escaped Vlad's throat and he clutched onto Oliver harder.

They stayed like that until Jack found them, saying that they would be starting shortly.

They all gathered around the casket and said their last words. Everyone placed their flowers on the top of the casket before it was lowered into the ground. One by one families and friends left until it was the Fenton's, Vlad, and Oliver left.

"You meant the world to me." Vlad whispered shakily. "I thought I was doing the right thing, but I don't think that was the case. I'm sorry I never came back to see you or mom. I hope you're having fun wherever you are, watching Scooby Doo and running around gardens. I love you."

Vlad covered his mouth as he started to sob again. Everyone else had already said their words, and they turned to leave.

As they walked away, Oliver grabbed Vlad's hand and gripped it tightly. Vlad gripped it just as hard and they were like that for the car ride back to Amity Park.

_Loving daughter, sister, and mother_

_Anastasia Irina Masters_

_August 16th, 1962_

_October 13th, 2004_


	21. Double Date

Vlad sat in a booth inside a fast food restaurant, chin sitting in his palm. He doesn't know why he let Jack and Maddie talk him into this.

They were on a double date. They approached him about it, thought that they found a girl he might like. They planned everything out and now here they were. Jack and Maddie, Vlad and…

And…

He couldn't remember her name.

Vlad only agreed to this stupid thing because he figured it would help him get over his crush on not one, but both of his best friends. It wasn't working. It just kind of made it worse.

He watched as they fed one another french fries and snuck cheek kisses, stealing glances at one another. Vlad just wished he could do that too and it was distracting him.

Vlad heard Maddie laugh. "Isn't that right, Vlad?"

His head shot up and he looked at Maddie with wide eyes. "I, uh, what?"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "I was just telling Christine about how interesting ectology is."

Vlad slumped back down and huffed. "Oh, yeah. Very interesting."

Maddie turned back to Christine. "Did you know Vlad grew up in a haunted town? He even had his own encounter with a malevolent specter! Isn't that exciting?"

"It's not nearly as exciting when you're the one being chased." Vlad mumbled.

"What are ghosts like?" Christine asked.

"They're real baddies!" Jack exclaimed. "They escape into our dimension to cause havoc and destruction!"

"Jack have you ever met a ghost before?" Vlad asked, deadpan.

"Well, uh. No, actually. But-"

"Most spirits just wander and cause little bits of mischief. There aren't that many that actually hurt anyone. Most just stay with their families or wander."

Christine looked at the table as she tapped her chin. "I wonder what reason good ghosts would have for staying around. Aren't ghosts supposed to have unfinished business?"

"Maybe unfinished business could apply to such mundane things as making your kids lunch every day or continuing to search for a prize you never got to reach in life."

Suddenly Maddie gasped, hands held up to either side of her face.

"We have a report we were supposed to complete for tomorrow!"

"What?" Vlad said. "We don't have-"

"Mads is right, Vladdie. We better head back and finish it."

Vlad squinted at them. Soon they all payed and walked Christine home safely before heading to their own dorm.

"What was that about?" Vlad asked. "We don't have a report due tomorrow."

Maddie shrugged. "You looked about as miserable as a wet kitten, Vlad. We had to get you out of there somehow."

"I- Thanks."

"No problem! Now we're gonna head home and watch some spooky movies!" Jack exclaimed.

Maddie grabbed both Vlad's and Jack's hands, swinging them as they walked. Vlad felt a smile grow on his face, but he didn't see the knowing look that Jack and Maddie exchanged.


	22. Memories

_ Danny was coloring a picture of a rocket ship when someone walked up to him. _

_ "Hi.. I'm Dash. I'm new. Can I sit with you?"_

_ "Yep!" Danny exclaimed, clearing away some of his papers and markers for the new boy to sit down. _

_ "What you drawing?"_

_ "A rocket ship! I'm gonna be an astronaut one day!"_

_ "Cool! You should send us postcards when you're up in space!" _

_ Danny beamed at Dash._

_ "I'll do my best!"_

_QQQQQQQQQQQ_

_ "Hey, Danny!" Dash yelled, running down the hallway waving at him. "Did you wanna come over after school tomorrow? My mom's gonna make brownies and she'll let us lick the bowl!" _

_ "Sure! I'll just have to ask my mom!"_

_ The next day, Danny and Dash ran all over the house. They played superhero, wearing bed sheets as capes and paper bags as masks. _

_ "Fear not, citizen!" Yelled Danny. "For I will smite this ghost!"_

_ "Ghost?" Dash asked._

_ "Yeah! Ghosts are baddies! They're out to get us. They'll crawl into your room and eat you!" Danny waggled his fingers at Dash menacingly._

_ "Then we better get that ghost!" Dash shouted, fist raised up into the air._

_ Together they yelled and chased after the imaginary phantom._

_QQQQQQQQQQQ_

_ "Dash!" Danny bounded over to the other boy in the classroom. He shoved a card in his face._

_ "You're invited to my 7th birthday party!"_

_ "Woah! Awesome! I'll be there!"_

_ Dash's mom was driving along the road when she pulled up in front of the house that had the address she was given. Her hands tightened on the wheel and she didn't get out to help Dash out of his car seat._

_ "Mom?" He asked._

_ "We're going back home."_

_ "What?" He exclaimed. "Why?!"_

_ "His parents are those ghost obsessed freaks that run amuck at night. I don't want you around that kind of thing."_

_ As they pulled away, Danny had run outside with a paper crown on his head. His shoulders dropped as the car got smaller and smaller._

_QQQQQQQQQQQ_

_ Danny grumpily walked into class Monday morning and stomped over to where Dash sat at their table._

_ "Why didn't you come to my birthday?"_

_ Dash turned his head and looked sadly at Danny._

_ "My mom doesn't like your parents. She says we can't be friends anymore."_

_ "What?" Danny asked softly._

_ "She says they're freaks."_

_ Danny clenched his fists and his face grew hot in anger. "They are not freaks!"_

_ Dash stood up and stood face to face with Danny. "Maybe they are! Maybe you just don't know!"_

_ They stared each other down until Danny lifted his arms and pushed Dash to the ground. Their teacher came over, scolding them. Danny's eyes filled with tears and he ran from the room._

_QQQQQQQQQQQ_

_ First grade finished and second grade came around. By then Danny had made two new friends, Sam and Tucker. It was all going swell._

_ Except for Dash._

_ Danny still missed him sometimes. But those sometimes were growing less and less. Dash was spreading rumors about Danny and his parents, about what they did. All things from experimenting on him to digging up corpses. _

_ The other kids in their grade were starting to not like Danny, which in turn made them not like Danny's friends. They became the outcasts. The weirdos. The geeks. _

_ They were in their own little bubble._

_QQQQQQQQQQQ_

_ By the time middle school came around, Dash had grown quite a lot. He was even taller than Danny now. He was getting into sports and getting stronger. _

_ This was when the fights started happening. _

_ Dash had enough leverage and advantage where he could pick Danny up and pin him against lockers or even stuff him inside them. _

_ One day after Dash had dropped Danny into a heap on the floor, Danny had decided he'd had enough. He grabbed onto Dash's shoulder to turn him back around and punched him straight in the face. _

_ Danny got suspended that day. _

_QQQQQQQQQQQ_

They were all in high school now. Everything was the same. Except they were older. Had a more cynical view of the world. Danny and his friends were still the outcasts. The weirdos. The geeks.

Danny walked down the hallway, backpack hanging off of one shoulder, heading to his history class. As he walked he saw Dash turn the corner into the hallway walking towards him. Dash's gaze lifted up and landed on Danny and he studied him for a moment before his brows drew down.

As they passed one another in the hallway, Dash bumped harshly into Danny's shoulder and mumbled a single word.

"Freak."

Danny sighed and continued walking down the hallway, slumped over.

_You don't even know the half of it. _


	23. Graduation

Warnings: past character death

He sat at the back of the school grounds, floating slightly off the ground, watching as the families filed into the seats. It was a nice day out and they chatted chipperly.

Today was Casper High's graduation ceremony.

All they seniors would be graduating and heading off to do their own thing. Kwan was going into bio-engineering. Paulina was going into fashion. Fenton was going for a physics degree.

Everyone would be going into the world and making an impact.

Well, almost everyone.

Soon students began to file down the aisle.

He saw Fenton and then Foley. Soon after came Valerie and then Kwan and Star. Manson walked down, her graduation cap spray painted black. He snorted at that. Then Paulina sauntered down the aisle in her pink high heels and soon all the students were seated. A hush fell over the crowd.

Lancer walked up to the podium and studied the sea of students before him.

"Four years ago, all of you came into high school unsure of what you wanted to do with your future. In these four years, you've all learned how to adapt and grow. You've learned skills to help you in your future, from analyzing text to learning how to fight ghosts."

The crowd chuckled softly at that. Lancer continued.

"We all know that high school sucks. There's bullying, grades, mental health. All of that is hard enough to deal with but on top of all of that, you learned how to handle ghosts. I'm incredibly proud of how well you all handled everything. It is shown by you sitting here today.

"I will now hand the floor over to valedictorian, Sam Manson."

Sam stood and walked up to the stage and stood in front of the podium, arms laying on top and hands gripping the front.

"Hi everyone. These four years have been such an experience. Not always a good experience, but an experience nonetheless. Throughout these four years we have all learned how to stand up for ourselves, how to persevere, and who we are as people.

"As this chapter comes to a close, we will celebrate and move on with our lives. We will get to go into our dream career, start families, follow our passions. Not all of us were able to make it to that point, though. So today, I ask you to really put your all into what you do. You want to be an illustrator? Practice drawing everyday. You want to work with animals? Give them all the love and attention you can. You want to be a football player? You better get every goddamn touchdown you can."

Kwan could be heard whooping. Laughter rang out through the people. He chuckled along with them, shaking his head.

"If you don't do it for yourself, at least do it for them. Thank you."

Sam walked back down to hear seat and the students began walking up to the stage to get their diplomas.

As Fenton walked up and looked over the crowd of people, his gaze stopped on where he was sitting on the hill. Fenton looked back and forth for a minute before his eyes widened in realization. He raised his hand in a wave and he waved back in return.

Finally, all the students had gotten their diploma and they were getting antsy.

Lancer walked back to the front of the stage.

"It is with great pleasure that I pronounce you graduates!"

Students and families cheered and caps were thrown into the air.

He smiled and flew down to where a group of teenagers were gathered.

"Yeah, man! We did it!" Kwan whooped, high fiving Foley.

"Where are we having the graduation party? I'm ready to have some fun!" Paulina shouted.

"Mrs. Baxter said we could have it at their house, liven their lives up a little bit." Sam said smiling as her and Danny walked up.

"She told us we gotta party hard enough to make up for Dash not being there." Kwan yelled.

As the group chatted Fenton's eyes flicked to him again and he smiled. Fenton smiled back and a hush fell over the group of teenagers.

"He's there, isn't he?" Kwan whispered.

Danny nodded. "He was watching the ceremony too."

"Why can't we see him?" Paulina asked softly.

"I… I don't know." Danny said looking back at Dash. "But he's here now."

Paulina's eyes filled with tears and Kwan looked blankly at the space Dash was occupying.

"Dash… We miss you man." Kwan said.

Paulina nodded as a hiccup escaped her throat.

_I miss you guys too._ Dash said as he made a shooing motion with his hands.

"He misses everyone too. And I think he wants us to stop moping."

Paulina made a whining noise and Star wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Is Dash at least coming to the party too?" She asked.

Danny looked at Dash as he nodded.

"Yep. Can't seem to get rid of him."

Dash glared at Danny who burst out laughing.

"Just kidding, just kidding. It'll be nice to have you there."

Dash smiled and watched as they continued to talk about the party. They all said bye to each other and headed to their families.

Following Danny, Dash floated on his back beside him.

_So Fentontoenail is the only one who can see me, eh?_

Danny rolled his eyes. "I could just pretend you don't exist. How would you like that, Dashiel?"

Dash glared at Danny. _No that would be rude of you._

Danny raised his hands. "Rude? Noo. It'd just be the silent game."

_Dude, no. Why would-_

"Relax, I'm kidding." Danny said. His expression sobered and was replaced with a more somber tone. "How long do you have left?"

_A few days I think? I'm not really sure. Time doesn't feel like it moves the same way anymore. _

"Oh. Well, we'll just have to make the best of the time we do have, won't we?"

Dash nodded and smiled sadly at Danny.

The graduation party came and went. Danny helped Dash talk to his parents. Lots of tears were shed. Everyone kept making jokes at Dash's expense, teasing him since he couldn't tease them back.

After that Dash followed Danny around for a few days. They chatted about his future plans and what Danny was going to be doing later in life. One night Danny fell asleep talking to Dash, who was laying beside him on the bed.

When he woke the next morning, Dash wasn't on the bed anymore.

"Dash?" He yawned, stretching.

No answer.

He looked around the room and then realization punched him in the gut and a pang ran through his body.

Dash was gone.


	24. Ghost Stories

It was late into the night and in the living room there was a blanket fort strung up with a yellow light twirling around inside it. Giggling escaped into the rest of the cold room and ghost noises could be heard.

"Oooooo!" Said Ms. Masters as she waggled her fingers threateningly before diving in to tickle Anastasia and Vlad.

"The ghosts are gonna get you and eat you alive! Muahaha!"

They wriggled around under the wrath of their mother's torturous hands before Anastasia sat back up.

"Tell us about ghosts!" She exclaimed.

"Well," Ms. Masters said as she held the flashlight up to her face. "You've both seen the ghosts around town. What kind of story would be interesting enough for you two?"

They begged and begged her for a story until she chuckled and gave in.

"Alright, alright. You both have met plenty of friendly ghosts, the ones who wander around town and stay by family and friends. But you haven't yet met a ghost with malicious intentions."

_He held Maddie up in the air by her wrist. He was cackling and rejoicing. Finally. Finally he would kill Jack and have Maddie to himself. _

Vlad and Anastasia hushed and stared at her in wonder.

"How come we haven't met any bad ghosts?" Vlad asked.

Their mom shrugged. "Not that many people in this town were bad.

"But the baddies, oh how bad they are. They'd do anything to get what they wanted."

_He looked at the letter he was about to mail. How devious. Ingenious. _

_ DALV._

"They'd manipulate."

_ "Think of all I could teach you, Daniel. All you'd have to do is renounce your father."_

"Endanger."

_The crown of fire is all he needs._

"Or even enslave."

"_You. Exist. To serve. Me! Just do it!"_

"There's no reasoning with a bad ghost. All they can see is their goal and all they can feel is their obsession."

Vlad spoke quietly from where he sat.

"We won't turn into that kind of ghost, will we?"

Ms. Masters tsked and pulled Vlad into her arms. "Two angels like you? I wouldn't dare believe it. You both are too good for this world."

"Yeah!" Anastasia shouted, wrapping her arms around the both of them. "We'll never become the baddies!"

Vlad smiled, reassured by the words his family gave him.

_Vlad sat in his lab below his mansion, laughing. The sound grew and grew until it was echoing manically throughout the room. _


	25. Blood Blossoms

Danny was sitting at the table in the kitchen working on homework when he heard the door handle jiggle in the living room.

"Hello!" Dash shouted. "Danny! I have something for you!"

"What is it?" Danny asked, writing down an_ x=-3_ while he stuck out his tongue in concentration.

The sound of shoes plopping on the ground could be heard as Dash spoke from the other room. "Flowers! I, uh, I have no idea if you like flowers or not. But I found these really obscure sounding ones that I thought fit your whole 'death' aesthetic."

Danny chuckled. "What are they?"

Dash walked in the room holding a big bouquet of red flowers. The color drained from Danny's face.

"Blood blossoms!" Dash said happily.

Dash walked over to where Danny was sitting to hand him the flowers, but Danny scrambled out of seat to the other side of the table.

"Danny?"

"Dash, I, fuck," Danny groaned, clutching his stomach. "I know you didn't know this otherwise you wouldn't've gotten them. But blood blossoms were ghost deterrent number one back in the day."

Dash stared at the flowers for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

"Oh my god."

He stuck them out at arms length away from him which in turn brought them closer to Danny.

"Dash!" He yelled, coughing.

"Fuck! Sorry!" Dash pulled them to his chest instead and looked around the room. "What do I do with them?!"

"Well, don't burn them." Danny said as Dash eyed the oven. "I have no idea what that would do to me."

"What do I do with them then?!"

"You could eat them. They're edible. According to my ancestors they're a great treat." Danny looked up at Dash who was staring at him.

"I'm not eating flowers!" Dash exclaimed. "Flowers taste gross!"

"Then go give them to your mom or something! I don't know!"

Dash groaned. "I'd have to walk all the way back home then." His eyes widened and he stood straight up. "Wait, I know!"

Dash ran from the room and Danny took in a deep breath that was free of the fumes from the flowers. A few seconds later he could hear the toilet flushing and Dash walked back into the kitchen dusting his hands off.

"Did you flush that whole thing down the toilet?"

"Ye-p." Dash said, a look of heroism on his face.

"Without clogging the toilet?" Danny asked.

"Uh.. I think so?"

Danny chuckled, shaking his head. He walked over to Dash and kissed him on the cheek.

"I know it didn't go how you planned, but I appreciate the sentiment."

Dash smiled at him and wrapped his arms around Danny.

"Who knew the almighty Phantom could be defeated with just a flower?" Dash smirked.

Danny glared up at Dash before floating up off his feet, bringing Dash with him.

"Danny, no! Put me down!"

"What's that? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over that flower nearly killing me."

"Danny!"

He dropped Dash then, flying into the living room and plopping on the couch. Dash ran after him and they started wrestling. Eventually they got tired and lay down together. Soon they were asleep.


	26. Ghost Speak

_Knock knock knock. _

"C'mon Danny! Time to wake up!" Maddie shouted chipperly through his bedroom door. "Breakfast will be done in a few minutes!"

Danny groaned into his pillow and pulled the blankets over his head.

A couple minutes later someone was banging heavily on his door. He startled and rolled off the bed and got tangled in his blankets.

The door opened to reveal Jazz.

"Breakfast is ready, Danny." At his glare Jazz rolled her eyes. "Just hurry up."

Soon Danny was dressed and sleepily walking his way to the kitchen. He sat down, yawning as he rubbed one of his eyes.

"Good morning, Danny!" Cheered Maddie. Danny mumbled a greeting back to her and picked up the plate of pancakes to grab a few.

Once everyone was settled in and eating, Jack and Maddie began discussing their plans for the day.

"We've got this big gun we're gonna test out! We'll take it out and find Phandom and tear him a new one!" Cried Jack, stabbing a piece of pancake with his fork enthusiastically.

"Yes! This weapon will interfere with their ecto-magnetic waves and-"

Danny placed his chin in his hand as he stared down at his food, pushing and twirling around some eggs. Suddenly, Jazz was asking him a question.

"Danny, what are your plans for today?"

He shrugged. "I̷ ̸d̴o̶n̵'̶t̶ ̶k̸n̶o̶w̸.̶ ̴I̸'̵l̸l̵ ̴p̴r̶o̵b̵a̷b̷l̶y̷ ̷j̴u̶s̵t̵ ̸b̴e̵ ̸h̵a̴n̴g̷i̸n̸g̶ ̷o̶u̵t̴ ̷w̶i̸t̵h̸ ̵S̷a̸m̵ ̴a̴n̶d̸ ̷T̸u̷c̵k̸e̵r̴."

His answer was met with silence and he looked up at his family to see them staring at him with wide eyes.

"W̵h̸a̴t̸?"

"Uh, um.. Danny. You're not…" Jazz's eyes flicked to their parents and back to Danny's face nervously. "You're not-"

"Suffering spooks! That's ghost speak!" Jack exclaimed.

Danny's eyes widened and he clutched the fork in his hand until his knuckles went white.

"Pft, dad, no it's not. I'm sure it's just something Danny and his friends made up. Isn't that right, Danny?" Jazz said.

"No! I am positive that's ghost speak! It's similar to the gibberish we hear smaller ghosts speaking in." Jack leaned towards Danny, squinting at him. Danny pushed his chair away from the table and his father's intrusive gaze and smiled nervously.

"I̵,̷ ̴u̵h̸,̴ ̷u̵m̸.̴ ̸I̶-̴"

Jack turned to Maddie. "Mads, do you know what this means?"

Jazz had stood up and walked over to Danny. She was clutching his arm protectively, nervously. She was opening her mouth to make up an excuse when Jack interrupted her.

"We can use this against the spookums! We can trick them into thinking Danny's been overshadowed by a ghost! C'mon! Let's go downstairs and start planning!"

The two older Fenton's abandoned their breakfast and sprinted down to the lab, leaving the other two in stunned silence.

Jazz breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "Well that went stupidly well."

"W̶h̷a̶t̷ ̵a̸m̵ ̷I̵ ̴g̵o̸i̸n̵g̴ ̷t̵o̴ ̷d̶o̵,̴ ̵J̷a̵z̶z̸?̵ ̸H̷o̶w̸ ̴d̴o̴ ̵I̴ ̸f̸i̴x̶ ̷t̶h̸i̵s̸?̸"

Jazz stared at him for a few moments before patting him on the shoulder.

"I have no idea what you just said, but good luck getting out of this one."


	27. Fashion

Sam slouched in the chair she was sitting in and glared at her mother out of the corner of her eye. She'd been dragged to _yet another_ fashion show showing off whosit's line of whatever ugly dresses.

This was supposed to be one of the biggest shows of the year. No one really knew what would be coming down the runway, just that it's a collaboration the first of its kind.

She didn't understand why her mom kept bringing her to these things. It was just hours of torture.

Soon the host's voice came over the speakers, introducing the guy and the collaborators.

Sam tuned him out and began to study her nails. The spiel for the first outfit came over the speakers and Sam looked up apathetically. She did a double take at what she saw though.

Up there, _on a fashion runway_, was a model wearing a Fenton jumpsuit. A shit eating grin spread across her face and she leaned towards her mom.

"Wow, Mom! The biggest collaboration of the year! This is neat, isn't it?"

She turned to face her mom only to see a shocked expression on her face, mouth wide open.

"Here we have the first jumpsuit in this line! They're fashionable and trendy, _and_ will protect you in the case of a ghost attack!" The announcer said.

One by one, jumpsuited models walked down the runway, each outfit getting crazier and crazier. Sam was leaned forward in her seat watching each one with attentiveness her mom strived for at every other fashion show.

The final model walked across the stage and soon it was over. Her mom stood and walked briskly out of the building. They climbed in the car and drove away.

Sam looked to her left to see her mom clutching the steering wheel in a vice-like grip.

"Uh, mom? You doing okay over there?" She asked.

"No! Who do the Fentons think they are? They aren't even part of the fashion industry! They're scientists for crying out loud! Why were they a part of that collaboration?"

Sam shrugged. "They've been making their own jumpsuits for years. They're pretty cool actually. I even have my own."

Her mom fumed. "You will not wear it! I don't care if it was a gift or if it'll 'protect you! I want it out of the house!"

"What? Why?"

"It's an atrocity!"

"Mom."

She looked at Sam for a moment before looking back towards the road angrily.

"You got a problem with jumpsuits?"


	28. Vacation

It was summer break after their first year of college. Jack, Maddie, and Vlad thought they'd go spend a week somewhere. Rent a hotel, go hiking. See the sights. But they left the planning to Jack.

That was a mistake.

"I thought we were going to rent a hotel for a week. Not a campsite!" Vlad said grumpily, gesturing to the wooded area around them. A bug flew past his ear and Vlad twitched away from it.

"C'mon, Vladdie! It'll be fun! We'll go fishing and hiking. We can watch the stars at night and have fires. I even brought seven bags of marshmallows!" Jack said excitedly, holding three of them up.

"But I didn't even bring a sleeping bag or anything." Vlad groaned slouching down.

"Gotcha covered!" Maddie said as she shoved a sleeping bag into Vlad's chest. "Besides, Jack has enough body heat that he'll probably keep the tent warm enough by himself."

"Jack Fenton's the name, walking furnace is my game!"

Vlad rolled his eyes.

Together the three of them set up the tent. It was getting dark out so they put together a fire and cooked some canned beans and told ghost stories until the sun went down and the stars were twinkling.

Soon Maddie yawned and Vlad followed suit. They put out the fire and gathered their food and supplies up before heading inside the tent. They lay down, Jack in the middle, and tucked in for the night.

Just as Vlad was almost asleep, he could feel Jack roll over behind him and suddenly giant arms were wrapped around him.

"Jack!" Vlad whispered, ears turning red as he tried to pry Jack's arms from around his middle. "Jack go away! Maddie's over there!"

Jack mumbled some incoherent gibberish before quieting back down.

Vlad groaned and gave up his futile attempt to remove Jack's arms. He was warm at least.

Soon Vlad finally fell asleep.

QQQQQQQQQQQ

The next morning, Vlad was gently shook awake.

"Vladdie? C'mon, get up. Maddie's already out making breakfast." Jack said as he rubbed his eyes.

Vlad stretched as he yawned and they clambered out of the tent, greeted with the smell of eggs and bacon.

"You guys were so cute this morning!" Maddie said as she placed her share of the bacon on her plate.

"What?" Jack asked yawning.

Maddie turned to the bag beside her and pulled out a polaroid photo. She held it out for them to see.

It was a picture of Jack and Vlad, his arms still wrapped around the other.

Vlad felt his ears turn red and he glared at the photo.

"Maddie!" He hissed.

"What? I thought it was adorable. You really gotta watch out though. If Jack doesn't have his teddy bear he'll trap you all night long."

"Did he pack his teddy bear?"

They both looked at Jack who was blushing sheepishly.

"Uh.. No?"

Vlad groaned and Maddie giggled. He pointed a finger at her.

"No more pictures."

She pouted. "Why?"

"Because you'll just tease us with them!"

"I'll tease you anyways!"

They were interrupted as Jack wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. "Guys, let's eat!"

Vlad gawked at him. "Don't you care?"

Jack shrugged, taking his arm from Maddie's shoulders to rub his neck. "No, not really. That photo will just be a representation of my love for you, V-man." He made obnoxious kissy noises in Vlad's face.

"Okay! Okay! Can we eat now?"

As they ate, Vlad felt a certain feeling grow in his chest. It was when they finished their meal and they were preparing to go hiking that he realized what is was.

_Oh no._


	29. Favorite Prompt Revive

It was pouring rain. The forest was silent after a ghost attack gone wrong. Phantom had been fighting this behemoth when he'd been struck by a volt of electricity the specter threw at him.

Then Phantom was falling and falling until he hit the ground. The other ghost flew away unnoticed by Dash because something else had grabbed his attention.

A bright ring appeared around Phantom's waist, illuminating the raindrops and the bushes around them. Once the rings separated, Phantom was gone and replaced with a small, human boy.

Danny Fenton.

Dash had stared at the boy in shock and horror for a few seconds until he realized Danny wasn't breathing.

He scrambled over through the mud as he pulled out his cell phone. Calling 911, he gave their location and started CPR.

"You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive. Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'. We're stayin' alive, stayin' alive, ha ha ha." Dash whispered as he gave Danny chest compressions.

"Fuckin morbid."

Tears and raindrops rolled down Dash's cheeks as he tried to contain his sobs. He paused for a moment to feel for Danny's pulse, finding nothing.

He continued, picking a new song.

"When I die and they lay me to rest, gonna go to the place that's the best, when I lay me down to die, goin' up to the spirit in the sky, goin' up to the spirit in the sky-"

Dash choked on the words as they left him.

"Row, row row your boat…" Dash sobbed.

Then Dash heard a small intake of air.

"Danny?" Dash said as he rested his hands on Danny's chest.

Danny's eyes opened and he looked around with unfocused eyes. After a few moments his gaze turned to Dash and recognition flitted across his face.

"Dash?" He croaked out.

Another sob escaped Dash's throat.

"I'm so sorry Danny."

Danny's brows furrowed weakly. "For what?"

"If I hadn't invited you here you'd be safe somewhere. You wouldn't have almost died. But you got electrocuted and fell out of the sky and-" The words got stuck in his throat.

Confusion eclipsed Danny's face until it was filled with realization. "You saw me change." He whispered.

Dash nodded.

"Look-ugh- Dash. I would've been fighting that ghost at some point. It would've moved on to some other part of town. It's not your fault."

"But you were distracted protecting me."

Danny shrugged, wincing with the movement. "It happens sometimes. No biggie."

"You almost died!" Dash yelled.

Danny grabbed Dash's hand, cradling it with his own.

"But I didn't. You made sure of that."

They sat like that until they heard sirens in the distance. Soon the forest was filled with flashing lights and Dash yelled for the paramedics. On the ride to the hospital, they still held each other's hands in a tight grip.


	30. Moving On

The Goodbye Song, George Salazar and Joe Iconis

Warnings: character death, mentions of self harm/suicide

The time has come

I'm flying away

Mouth is numb

Heart don't know what to say

_Danny watched as his friends cried over his body, the ghost they'd been fighting escaping. He laid there so very still. The wind wasn't even moving his hair. He reached a hand out towards them but stopped right before he reached Sam's shoulder. _

And although

I'll be out of sight, dear

Know I'll be right here

Right here forever, ever, ever, ever

_He brought his hand down and turned around, facing the back of the alley they were in. There was a warm light glowing softly, beckoning him. He looked at Sam and Tucker again, an ache in his chest. Both were pulling on him. _

_He could wait just a little bit longer._

And when you

Look to the night skies

Don't think of goodbyes

Think how I'm right here

Ever, ever, ever

_Sam and Tucker sat on the roof of Fentonworks. It had been three weeks since Danny died. The world still felt wishy washy and like a nightmare. As they looked towards the stars, tears filled their eyes. Sam let out an anguished scream into the night. _

Thank you for teaching me lessons

Thank you for listening to mine

Man, you know how to ride a bike now

Don't be scared

You'll be fine

_Weapons blasting, Sam and Tucker fought back to back. Ghosts were back in town six weeks later. They each had a specter deflector on and ghost proof jumpsuits, specially made by the Fenton's after Danny's death. _

_The ghost that had killed Danny was a part of the horde surrounding them now. They caught him in a thermos._

_They buried him in the backyard._

And although

I'll be out of sight, dear

Know I'll be right here

Right here forever, ever, ever, ever

And when you

Look to the night skies

Don't think of goodbyes

Think how I'm right here

Ever, ever, ever

_Sam didn't wish on stars anymore._

Come

No you can't come with me

_Sam! No!_

_Danny summoned enough power to tug the blade away from a teary eyed Sam and fling it across the room. She looked at her now empty hand with wide eyes. _

Stay

I wish I could

_Danny watched as Sam begged him to become visible, to stay. To talk to her._

Goodbye

I know it's hard to say

_Danny tucked a stray strand of hair behind Sam's ears and pressed their foreheads together. She blankly searched the air in front of her, unable to see him._

Come

No you can't come with me

_Tucker stood in front of the swirling ghost portal, staring into it. He had the Specter Speeder all packed up and ready to go. He turned to get in only to see the lights inside the vehicle off and a note on the door._

_Tucker… _

Stay

I wish I could

_Danny?!_

_Tucker looked around the lab for any trace of his friend. _

_Danny, please, talk to us. Why can't we see you?_

Goodbye

I know it's hard to say

_Tears dripping down his face, Tucker slowly turned his beret around so that it sat in front of his face, backwards._

Ouch!

I know it hurts to say I

_An invisible force gently turned the hat back around and Tucker sobbed._

I'd stay if I could

_Danny gently squeezed Sam's arms before he disappeared._

But the universe won't let me

_Danny looked away from Tucker and towards the ghost portal, seeing the faint glowing light again. Calling to him._

So please be good

_He squeezed their hands._

Don't you forget me

_And he was gone._

And although

I'll be out of sight, dear

Know I'll be right here

Right here forever, ever, ever, ever

And when you

Look to the night skies

Don't think of goodbyes

Think how I'm right here

Ever, ever, ever

_Sam and Tucker sat leaning against one another on top of Fentonworks. The night was clear and they spent it looking at the stars. _

And although

I'll be out of sight, dear

Know I'll be right here

Right here forever, ever, ever, ever

And when you

Look to the night skies

Don't think of goodbyes

Think how I'm right here


	31. Free Day

Tucker stood in front of the door, fidgeting nervously. He wasn't sure of what he was doing. Danny didn't know anything. Tucker thought they'd just hang out the two of them.

Alone.

He groaned. He didn't know if he could do this. Why had Sam encouraged him? She pepped him up and got him excited but now here it was and he was so nervous.

Tucker was about to turn around and leave when the front door opened.

"Tucker! Hi! What are you doing just standing out there? Come on in!"

Maddie pulled Tucker in through the door and promptly shut it behind him.

"I baked some cookies. They're in the kitchen, go grab a few." Maddie walked up the stairs, shouting. "Danny! Tucker's here!"

She followed Tucker into the kitchen. She cooed.

"Is that a new shirt, Tucker? It looks really nice!"

Tucker choked on the cookie he was munching through. "Yep! Got… Got a wardrobe update the other day. My mom insisted I buy some new clothes."

_More like Sam badgered me into buying something nice._

"I'm sure Danny will love it."

At that, Tucker dropped the cookie that was in his hand and his eyes went wide. He turned to look at Maddie who had a knowing look on her face.

"I… uh…"

"Hey, Tuck." Danny said as he came into the kitchen, stealing a cookie.

"Danny!" Maddie said as she smiled innocently at him. "Look at Tucker's new shirt! Isn't it wonderful?"

His ears turned red as Danny glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. Tucker shot a glare in Maddie's direction but she was too busy tormenting him to notice.

"It's, uh, nice I guess?" Danny said.

Maddie nodded and starting shooing them out of the house. "Now go on and do whatever you guys have planned. I'll be making rice later so I'll be sure to save you two some. Bye!"

She pushed them out the front door and closed it behind them.

"Heh. Wonder what that was all about?" Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I dunno, man." Tucker squeaked.

Together they walked to the movie theater at the mall. They got their popcorn, their tickets, their soda, and they were ready for the movie.

_Okay, Foley. Now's your chance. You just gotta make a move and just-_

He jumped as he felt Danny's arm land on the back of the seat behind him. He looked at Danny out of the corner of his eye. He was staring at the commercials and previews with a wide eyed gaze, eyes suspiciously still.

Tucker leaned in closer to Danny, which made him jump. The movie started and soon they were engrossed.

Partway through the film Tucker had his hand inside their popcorn when Danny stuck his hand in for some as well. Both jumped at the contact, but Danny went still. Slowly, instead of grabbing a handful of popcorn, Danny grabbed Tucker's hand and pulled it out of the bucket.

Tucker linked their fingers together and they stayed like that for the rest of the movie.

At the back of the theater, Sam sat with a pair of binoculars, smiling at the boys below her. Once the movie was over and everyone else but the three of them were out of the theater, Sam stood and clapped.

Danny and Tucker startled, turning to look up at her.

"Sam?!" Danny yelled. "Were you spying on us?"

"I thought you didn't want to come with us!" Tucker said.

"Hey, I had to make sure you both went according to plan."

Danny and Tucker both looked at each other before laughing.

"You had Sam's help too?"

"Yeah, man!"

The two met Sam at the door to the theater and the three left laughing together happily.


End file.
